New Avengers #21
Sometimes art can be really good, but when put with a story with a very different tone, it hurts the finished product. Some have mentioned that Steve Dillon's art on Wolverine Origins doesn't really fit, but they love his work on other titles. That is kind of the same situation here. Howard Chaykin's art is good, but not for the story that Brian Michael Bendis was trying to tell. At times, the art was downright distracting. Like I said, I love Chaykin's art, but the gritty, yet colorful approach he takes just makes it hard to get into this issue. Even though I seem to be kind of disappointed in this issue, it actually was a pretty solid read. I love Captain America, and I really enjoyed hearing his side of the story when it came to the Civil War. Everything he said seemed to ring true, and make sense, which means that Brian Bendis did his job. I also liked the inclusion of the Falcon, who I think is an underused character. I did kind of raise an eyebrow at a couple of the "stereotypical" pieces of dialogue that he uttered though. So this was a solid beginning to the Civil War tie-ins for the New Avengers title. This issue falls in between the best issue of this arc (#25) and the worst issue (#24) when it comes to quality, meaning that it isn't spectacular, nor is it abysmal.
Grade: 7/10
Review by Christopher Hoerdemann
New Avengers #22
Even if Luke Cage went back to the Tiara and gold shirt look, nobody could take away the cool factor that this character possesses. That is all thanks to Brian Michael Bendis. Before Bendis waved his magic wand, Cage was a joke, a stereotype, and used only as comic relief. Now that Bendis has given him a unique, and realistic voice, he is one of my favorite characters. So, in this issue, Iron Man and Ms. Marvel confront Luke Cage and Jessica Jones about registering in compliance with the Super-hero Registration Act. Cage and Jones both refuse, and both of them know that they are dooming themselves. However, they also both know that they have to do what they believe to be right. So Luke sends Jessica, and their newborn baby up to Canada, and even though Cage wants to go with, he can't fathom leaving Harlem, the neighborhood that he cleaned up and protects. So, punctual as ever, a SHIELD crew is pounding on Cages door at midnight. The act has gone into affect, and Cage is on the wrong side of the law. What ensues is a beautifully rendered fight scene, drawn by Leinel Yu, whose Kinetic pencils jump right off the page. Then, support for Cage comes in the form of Captain America, Daredevil, and the Falcon who turn the tide of the fight in the favor of the anti-registrant rebels. All four heroes escape, and Jessica, already in Canada learns that her husband is fine.
This was an enjoyable issue. Partly because I have found that Luke Cage is becoming one of my favorite characters, and partly because of Leinel Yu's gritty, kinetic pencils, which fit the story perfectly. I think these Civil War Tie-ins in New Avengers would have been better had he done every issue. Bendis provides strong dialogue in this installment as well. He didn't get as much of a chance to spout off one liners, but the dialogue fit the darker tone of the story. This is probably the second best issue out of the New Avengers tie-ins that I've read, only beaten out by #25.
Grade: 8/10
Review by Christopher Hoerdemann
New Avengers #23
While the fans of the Marvel Universe all want to know "whose side are you on?" All the Marvel characters want to know what side is she (AKA Spider-Woman AKA Jessica Drew) on? Well, it looks like we finally find out in this issue. In a nutshell, Jessica is brought in by SHIELD, and is given a talking to. Turns out that SHIELD knew that she was a double agent all along. So, right when it looks like things are going to hit the fan in one sense, things hit the fan in another sense. Hydra agents bombard the SHIELD helicarrier (which is now pelting uncontrollably towards the ground) where Drew is being held, and "save" her. So now she is taken back to Hydra Island. Then, we are privy to a conversation where an elder Hydra member proposes something: Jessica should become the new leader of Hydra by deposing the old one. So, Jessica doesn't like that idea much, and fights her way to the fuel reserves on the island, and basically makes everything go boom. It looks like the long-standing question about her allegiances has been solved for the time being. On the final page of the issue, she makes it to the Secret Avengers head quarters where she meets up with Cap and his resistance.
I never have been a huge fan of Jessica Jones. She can be interesting in some cases, but her current double/triple agent predicament isn't that intriguing. Now that that story line seems to be done with for awhile, maybe she might be a bit more interesting to me, but in this double/triple agent story line heavy issue, I didn't enjoy her very much. Olivier Coipel is serviceable as the penciller this issue, but what would have really been cool was if Frank Cho put pencil to paper for this issue, since his rendition of Spider-Woman rocks. As is, this issue was run of the mill at best.
Grade: 6/10
Review by Christopher Hoerdemann
New Avengers #24
Let's start with this: The Best part of this issue was the cover composed by Adi Granov. The story revolves around the Sentry making a journey into space so he can have time to think. He is a constantly conflicted character, and it has started to get a bit irritating. Every time he appears, we are reminded how conflicted he is. At some point Marvel is going to have to realize that if they stopped beating us over the head with the fact that he is crazy, and conflicted, and all of that, that we might just start to like the character. Unfortunately, since this issue deals with the same old Sentry antics, it was hard for me to enjoy it. On a much more positive note, Pasqual Ferry's art is pretty solid here. He does really good work when the characters he's drawing are in alien environments (see his work on Ultimate Fantastic Four), and surrounded by aliens (such as the Inhumans in this issue). So if I were Marvel, I would get him on a cosmic character (I think he would be a good fit for Silver Surfer) as soon as possible. This was by far the weakest issue of the New Avengers Civil War tie-ins.
Grade: 4.5/10
Review by Christopher Hoerdemann
New Avengers #25
This was issue was awesome. It made me really like Maria Hill, and it also made me dislike Iron Man's stance even more. From the beginning, whenever someone asked me whose side I was on, I answered without hesitation; Captain America. However, somewhere around issue #3, I wavered. When I was at Wizard World Chicago last August, Joe Quesada explained Tony Stark's stance, and I actually felt stupid for a second because, logically, Tony Stark was absolutely right. If this was all taking place in the real world, there is no doubt that I would be on Iron Man's side. However, since this story is taking place in the Marvel Universe, I remain on Caps side, because Captain America with his morals, muscles, and brains, is very hard to root against. So, on to this issues story……
A disgruntled employee of Iron Man's sneaks into Stark Tower, puts Jarvis out of working order, and disables the Iron Man armor which Stark is still inside of. The employee, by the name of Kenny, then proceeds to let loose with his feelings on Stark's betrayals. It is a perfect "why Tony Stark is wrong in a nutshell" speech. Now, other than the fact that the speech was good, the part that hit me the hardest was when the employee lets loose on how the battle armor he designed was now being misused to take down super heroes. Not only was Tony a jerk, but now he is a lying jerk! During all of this, Maria Hill, director of SHIELD is getting a crash course in cool gadgets that will help her get up to the top of Stark Tower, and find out what is going on. Back to Tony's predicament: so, the employee now tells Tony that he is just going to wipe Tony, himself, and Stark Tower off the map with the anti-matter bomb he created. Hill arrives just in time to shoot the employee, and keep the bomb from causing huge amounts of damage. Now, the final page is what made Maria Hill an enjoyable character for me. She tells Tony that she knows she wasn't qualified for the job she got, and she doesn't even want the job anymore. That was the part that made me like her, but I still cringed when in the final panels, she tells Tony who is the perfect person for her job; him.
I really love Leinel Yu's art in issue #22, but Jimmy Cheung does a stellar job with this issue. It looks like I'm going to have to go buy the Jimmy Cheung pencilled, first issue of the New Avengers: Illuminati miniseries that just came out now too. Meanwhile, Bendis does it again. He hits the emotional, and dramatic beats like the pro that he is, and he even finds a way to insert some humor. Bravo Bendis and Cheung, Bravo!
Grade: 9/10
Review by Christopher Hoerdemann
New Avengers #26
Fans have been screaming for it, and it finally happened! Hawkeye returns! Hawkeye, the real thing, is truly alive and well (confirmed by Doctor Strange in this issue). This issue was kind of bizarre to say the least. Hawkeye searches out Wanda Maximoff, who killed him not once, but twice. That alone seems illogical, but it gets even more out there. Hawkeye ventures to Wundagore Mountain, where, ooops! What do you know! Hawkeye bumps right into Wanda! Wow, he is one lucky dude apart from the fact that he tends to die quite a bit. So he faints when he realizes who she is. Wanda then takes him back to her house, where he would be allowed to recuperate. When he wakes up, he talks to her and realizes that she is, like Doctor Strange told him, a very sick woman. She has no recollection of what she had done. So, one thing leads to another, and for some out there reason, Hawkeye and Wanda end up doing the deed. This issue's flaws way out weighed its strengths, and the creepy ending just caps it off. Alex Maleev's art shines here, and is the lone bright spot, and one of the few things that actually does makes sense in this issue. Bendis's plot is strange, and he is very sparing with his dialogue (very unusual for Bendis). The one positive of Bendis not going dialogue crazy was that Maleev's art was allowed to speak for itself, and like I said, his art was excellent. So overall, reading this issue was a bizarre and creepy experience, but Maleev's art shined.
Grade: 6.5/10
Review by Christopher Hoerdemann |
